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MAPDT 01067
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Clients
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Nellie’s Blog In April I took on a little
female Jack Russell cross called Nellie who was involved in a road traffic
accident. She was taken to a local Vets surgery where she needed veterinary
attention. She had broken her pelvis in two places and also broken her leg.
As she was a stray she was taken to Warren Avenue Kennels to serve her
statutory seven days. During her stay she was given further veterinary
attention and it was decided that her leg should be pinned. During surgery
the pinning didn’t go well and there was nothing else the vets could do but
amputate. After her surgery it was advised
that she would have to be on six weeks rest to allow her pelvis to heal. I
decided to take Nellie on as a foster case to give her a break from kennel
life.
Nellie settled into our lives
really well. She was very quiet and took to me straight away. Due to being on
strict rest she was able to potter around and go outside for the toilet but
spent the majority of her time lying in her bed. To begin with she wouldn’t eat
her dinner but was luckily taking her medication on hotdog sausage. I tried different
foods, and tried feeding her in different bowls but nothing seemed to work.
One night she kept looking at her food and was crying. I hand fed her which
she happily lapped up and when I gave her some more I put some on the floor
and again she ate the whole lot. I eventually worked out that Nellie
preferred to eat alone so started to feed her in the crate with the door
shut. Eventually I’ve managed to build her up so now she will eat out of a
plastic bowl in front of me. Nellie was doing really well with
her house training but we have had a few accidents. These were my fault as I
didn’t let her out early enough so have had to change my routine to prevent
this from continuing. Nellie has also met lots of dogs
on lead and seems to be dog friendly which I’m really pleased about. She is
keen to greet them and we haven’t had any problems so far. This last week I’ve been dropping
her lead when no one is around and practicing some recalls. She is fairly
good but there is plenty of room for improvement! She has grown from strength
to strength and it has also shown in her walking on lead. She has certainly
become strong and will at times pull. I stop when she pulls and she will turn
and trot back to my side before we walk on again. She has been a delight so my
partner and I decided we wanted to keep her as she is perfect in so many ways
and is exactly what we were looking for. Update We have been making more progress
with Nellie. As I started to clicker train her I have been working hard to
carry this on and allow her to think for herself. I often give her different
objects to work with and so that she produces different behaviours for me.
She thoroughly enjoys this and really thrives. I am currently trying to teach
her to push a ball along so that she knocks over some pins as if she is
playing skittles! I have decided to keep this quiet so that I can show off at
Christmas to my friends and family as a party piece. Nellie has been busy meeting a
few of my friend’s dogs. I don’t do this too often but it is nice for her to
meet well mannered dogs to walk with. It is good for dogs to have ‘friends’
and a social life to keep their socialisation up. I have been working hard for the
last six months with a small dog who has issues with other dogs because he
has been bullied too many times. I decided to use Nellie as a stooge dog to
help this other dog to stay focused on his owner and not become stressed out.
I was so proud of Nellie, although she wanted to greet the other dog I was
able to get her attention and she walked really well. Due to the other dog
not being able to cope we did have to walk on opposite sides of the road but
both dogs did amazingly well. I do not plan on using Nellie too
often as a stooge as this is not fair. However I do plan on her helping me a
few times during the year when other dogs are ready for the distraction. The
last thing I want to do is ruin my own dog, I am blessed to have found such a
great little dog the last I would want is to undue all the hard work I have
done and make her feel uncomfortable around other dogs. |
